I love the method used in this recipe, you make two smaller patties first, put the “stuffing” in the center of one of them, then top it with the other patty and seal the edges. It’s honestly so easy and you can really turn these babies into any kind of burger you want! Ellie’s recipe calls for stuffing with roasted red peppers. Being the unorganized cook that I proudly am, I had used up all of my roasted red peppers for other meals early in the week, leaving none for this recipe. Oh well…time to improvise. I had some sun dried tomatoes and fresh spinach in the fridge so that’s what I went with, along with the shredded mozzarella. As I was reaching for the salt and pepper, I picked up Greek seasoning instead. And a new recipe was born.

To keep things really healthy, I served the burgers on Arnold’s Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins, my new favorite sandwich bread. Since all the toppings were stuffed inside, all I needed was a little ketchup and I was happy!

Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
• 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh spinach
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Greek seasoning

Directions:

1. Divide turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total. Season both patties with Greek seasoning. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with sun dried tomatoes, spinach and cheese, top with remaining patties, working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Grill or broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
2. Edited: I wanted to mention a trick I learned years ago...when dealing with turkey burgers, its good to refrigerate the patties for about an hour before grilling, it helps keep them from falling apart when handling them on the grill.

Adapted from Stuffed Turkey Burgers, Ellie Krieger

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The ingredient list of this recipe is fairly simple, you can most likely find red curry paste in the Asian aisle of your grocery store or easily find curry powder with the spices. I went for the red curry paste. I also used some frozen mahi-mahi that I had on hand.

What a delight!
This dish was so light and tasty, my husband and I really enjoyed it. The flavor combination was perfect, I’m always happy cooking with cilantro and lime!
I will definitely be making it again…
next time will be trying this recipe with some shrimp and a little extra heat!

A big thank you to Liz over at The Not So Skinny Kitchen for choosing a recipe that I might have normally skipped over. Visit her blog along with the other members of CEimB to see their versions and variations of this great recipe!

Thai-Style Mahi with Coconut-Curry Broth

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 4 shallots, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste, or 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon, plus more for seasoning
• 4 (6-ounce) pieces mahi-mahi
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked whole wheat orzo or brown rice, for serving
• Steamed spinach, for serving

Directions:

1. In a large saute pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes.
2. Season the mahi with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange the fish in the pan and gently shake the pan so the fish is coated with the sauce. Cover and cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 7 minutes.
3. Arrange a pile of steamed spinach in the bottom of 4 soup plates. Top with the fish fillets. Stir the cilantro, scallions, and lime juice into the sauce and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Ladle the sauce over the fish and serve with orzo or rice.

Recipe adapted from Ellie Krieger, The Food You Crave or Food Network

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Cooking Light week continues! See Day 4 here!

Couscous is one of my favorite grains to have on a weeknight. It cooks up in no time and you can really change things up by adding different ingredients to it. I always try to cook my rice and couscous in chicken broth for additional flavor. For this dinner, I decided to add some chopped basil and pine nuts to the couscous after it was cooked up. Adding sun dried tomatoes to the couscous would pair up really nicely with this chicken dish too.

The only change I really made to the recipe is that I added the chicken back into the pan as the sauce reduced. The chicken absorbed a lot of the sauce and really kept moist because of it. I also decided to flour the chicken with seasoned whole wheat flour before sauteeing it. I always like how chicken turns out when it’s floured first, it adds a nice texture to the outside of the chicken.

Thank you Marthe for choosing a delicious recipe! It was enjoyed over here in Aggie’s Kitchen! Check out the blogroll over at Craving Ellie in my Belly to see more versions of this tasty and healthy dinner!

I saw Ellie making this soup on an episode I had saved on DVR the other night…my husband normally doesn’t sit and watch cooking shows with me, but somehow I inconspicuously finagled a way to keep him from changing the channel to ESPN or CNN. Once he started watching though he did get interested and started to pay attention to what Ellie was making. All I had to hear from him was “oh that looks good” and I knew I would be making it soon. As a matter of fact, I made it the next day.

This light and nontraditional version of chili is a new favorite for me. I loved it…as did my husband and nephew. It has just enough kick from the poblanos and just enough creaminess from the Greek yogurt…and is still healthy. I didn’t have any hominy on hand, so I substituted frozen corn instead. I did pick up hominy today and will be trying it for the first time the next time I make this chili, which will probably be very soon.

A soup like this is perfect for a light weeknight dinner or an easy lunch to take to work. I found it filling and satisfying and knowing that it’s good for me is added bonus. I can’t wait to get through my leftovers this week.

Ellie Krieger’s White Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 2 stalks celery, diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 3 medium poblano peppers (about 4 ounces each), seeded and white ribs removed, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more to taste
• 1 pound ground white meat turkey
• 2 (15.5-ounce) cans white beans such as cannelini, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can hominy, drained and rinsed
• Salt
• 1/4 cup nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in large pot or Dutch oven over moderate heat. Add the onion, celery, poblanos, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
2. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink about 2 minutes. Add the white beans, broth and oregano. Cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes.
3. Add the hominy and salt and more cayenne pepper, to taste, and continue cooking, partially covered, 10 minutes longer. Ladle into individual bowls and top each serving with 1 tablespoon of yogurt and 1 1/2 teaspoons of cilantro. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Recipe from Ellie Krieger, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger

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(…light and creamy after the Greek yogurt is stirred in.)

I ran the Spirit of the YMCA 5k this past Saturday, it was my first 5k in a few years and I’ll tell ya I think I’m hooked again. It was a great event, very family friendly which is a big reason why I love the Y. They held a kid’s Fun Run after the big race and my little guy couldn’t wait to use his speedy legs. He had been excited about it all week…he “trained” for it by running from driveway to driveway as fast as he could.

Seeing him out there so happy and proud like that definitely made my heart smile. 😉

Have a great week!

The “barbeque” part of this sauce seems almost a bit misleading…it was not what I expected at all at first. The sauce is based on a puree of sauteed red pepper, onion, spices and tomato sauce as well as mangos and jalapenos. It’s not lacking in flavor that’s for sure. I thought the sauce was wonderful, and would be great with seafood too. It had a nice kick to it from the jalapenos and a nice fresh sweetness from the red peppers and mangos.

I served the chicken sliced over a large tossed salad with romaine, grape tomatoes, red onion and red pepper. The salad was tossed in a smoky vinaigrette I put together and then topped with the grilled chicken and additional Mango Barbeque Sauce. I have quite a bit of sauce left over and am going to throw it in the freezer to save for another time. Another great Ellie recipe!

Check out the Craving Ellie in my Belly blogroll
to see how everyone else cooked up their recipe!

Next up is Barefoot Contessa’s Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart, chosen by the sweet Anne Strawberry. I can not get enough of these types of dishes…I absolutely love tomatoes and goat cheese, throw in some caramelized onions and its just perfection in my book. Good stuff.

I don’t normally cook with puff pastry, I love eating it, but cooking with it just makes me nervous. It’s just so delicate, and I just don’t do well with delicate. I decided to make my own version of these tarts using a whole wheat pizza dough that I found on Two Peas in Their Pod. I’ve been wanting to start making my own pizza dough, and I’ll tell ya, I’m glad I did. These were great served as personal pizzas…add a small salad to it and you’ve got yourself a great meal.

Thank you Anne for picking this fabulous recipe…I will try it again using the puff pastry, I promise. I will tell you though, I was excited to find some nice basil in my garden…I call this basil “miracle basil” because it somehow survived our winter freezes this year…I recently trimmed it back and it has sprung back beautifully! I can’t wait to start making homemade pesto again…

This meal is going to become a regular around here. It was so good….and so so easy! I know I say that about a lot of recipes that I try, but really, that’s what I’m about, good simple food. I don’t have time to spend on complicated stuff, as I’m sure a lot of you don’t either.

I didn’t have any corn, so I skipped it, but I’m sure that would be good. I was also going to add some shredded carrot to the shredded cabbage that I used…but I forgot. Next time. I went ahead and threw the cilantro into the chipotle cream. This chipotle cream is awesome. I loved it. I’m definitely going to start serving it alongside chips, salsa and guacamole from now on. It was perfect for dipping tortilla chips.

Thank you Sara for choosing a great recipe for the group!! Go check out the Craving Ellie in my Belly blog roll to see everyone else’s version of Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream!

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Barefoot Bloggers recipe…Chicken Piccata!

Fish Tacos with Chipotle Cream

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound white flaky fish fillet, like tilapia or halibut
• 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons chipotle pepper, in adobo sauce
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1 1/2 cups shredded green cabbage or lettuce
• 1/2 cup corn kernels (thawed if frozen)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• Lime wedges

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. Pour over the fish fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes. Put the yogurt into a strainer lined with a paper towel and place over a bowl to drain and thicken for 20 minutes.
2. Remove the fish from the marinade and grill on a preheated grill or nonstick grill pan over a medium-high heat until cooked thorough, about 3 minutes per side. Set the fish aside on a plate for 5 minutes.
3. In a small bowl combine the thickened yogurt, mayonnaise, and chipotle pepper.
4. Heat the tortillas on the grill or grill pan for 30 seconds on each side.
5. Flake the fish with a fork. Top each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of the chipotle cream. Top with fish, cabbage, corn and cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Recipe by Ellie Krieger

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Now on to this week’s recipe…Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens. This recipe was chosen by Joanne of Apple Crumbles…don’t you just love that name? 😉 Check out the CEimB group page to see how everyone cooked up this recipe!

I used a combination of Napa Cabbage and Bok Choy and served it with Mary Ann’s Zucchini and Chicken Stir Fry. I thought the greens turned out very good, but mine seemed to be a bit watery. I think it might have been my fault, I didn’t really take the time to dry them out after rinsing them so a lot of the leftover water must have landed into the pan. I am curious to see what everyone else in the CEimB group thinks of this recipe, I felt like it might have been missing something…maybe it needed a little kick or something? It still was a great, quick and light side dish…perfect for an Asian inspired meal. I think next time it would go perfect with a nice piece of marinated grilled chicken or fish.

Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 pounds baby bok choy or Napa cabbage, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a wok or large frying pan heat the oil over high heat until very hot. Add the bok choy and stir-fry until they begin to soften slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil and cook until just done, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Recipe by Ellie Krieger

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Check out Food Network for a printable version of this recipe!

How could you resist a bowl of goodness like this?

I don’t usually get excited about granola when I see it bagged in the store. When I read the ingredients, something always stands out as not so good and I am disappointed. I have found a few favorites, however, I really can’t see myself buying anymore after making the easiest batch of granola ever. This stuff is good. Real good.

I have made Barefoot Contessa’s Granola before and have loved it too. But it has a lot of ingredients, and oil, so it’s not something I tend to make often. This granola is simple, and I truly believe that simple is usually the best.

This Nutty Granola was chosen by Leslie at Lethally Delicious for the Craving Ellie in my Belly group. I just joined the group and this was the perfect first recipe! I made a few minor adjustments…I left out the cinnamon, only because I didn’t have any, and added some vanilla. I also subbed raw cashews for walnuts because they are what I had on hand. My kitchen smelled so good this afternoon. Even my son came in and said “Mom, what is that yummy smell?” So good mommy spooned some fresh granola into a small bowl and said “Snack.” So we snacked. 😉

(I enjoy my granola sprinkled over a bowl of fresh mixed berries and Stoneyfield lowfat plain yogurt…)